Test and learn in UK government
I’ve just watched back today’s Pat McFadden speech about ‘test and learn’ – here’s the full transcript which is worth a proper read. Overall I’m optimistic, even if some of the early coverage of the preceding press release was less helpful, focused on the headline of the state acting “more like a start up.”
As others have pointed out, the tone of this speech is good. It’s humble and doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. It’s also very good to see the focus on where government has great examples of test and learn – the exemplar work on Passports and Universal Credit is shared. Government can work in this way.
“They took Universal Credit out of the department and its one-size-fits-all culture, and set up a small team of around 30 people from mixed backgrounds. Policy makers, digital people and those in charge of operational delivery, all in one team. The priority was to get something that would work, start small and start learning.”
I’m less convinced about the tech ‘tour of duty’ idea being proposed. I’d make a larger bet of how you utilise the digital talent already in and around government. People want to do this type of work, but need the right leadership and incentives in place.
It’s not 2010 and government departments now all have digital talent. That talent is mostly tied up in business as usual. The problem I see if that it’s hard for departments to start small and experiment. Where there are R&D spaces or labs they get outsourced to big suppliers. When I was in government it was Blockchain, and now they’re buying into AI hype. Most lab/experimental spaces I’ve seen in government are too focused on solutions or run by tech people exclusively. We need spaces that take real use cases and scenarios and explore how to solve those problems in new ways.
What’s really needed is a different set of propositions for digital in departments – not just BAU. The best progress we made in my time at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was with design sprints. We organised and ran a number of these – usually by stealth, bringing together digital, operational and policy teams to work together. The important emphasis was we always made things in those design sprints. Real, working proof of concepts. Often with some working level of tech integration. Most importantly, we worked in the open and shared what we learned.
Here’s an example of a design sprint with a policy team. Some of these sprints built business cases that led to whole new services being stood up, and realised significant saving.
A great post I read recently was by Lee Dunn, Head of the Digital Academy in the Scottish Government: Agile is very much alive! Lee makes the important point that “the essence of agile – flexibility, collaboration, and iterative progress – remains vital”. If we want test and learn to work, then we need the “psychological safety, professional learning, coaching, alignment and autonomy” for the civil service to work in this way.
Where there is still investment in digital academies and training, it’s clear to me that you can support and build the communities needed for new ways of working. Not just delivery teams, but also a new generation of digital leaders. There’s great examples of this already happening in Scotland and Wales.
The need for local, front line models
What I do really like in Pat McFadden’s speech is the idea of frontline service workers being seconded into test and learn work. This is so important. Subject Matter Experts are the magic ingredient in digital transformation. Many of the solutions, innovations and ideas needed to improve services are hidden in plain sight.
It’s also important where test and learn happens. I think the places that do this best are Local Government and the third sector. So with the initial focus on temporary accommodation and family hubs shared today, I’d look to start and invest in more work here with support from the centre.
When I first joined GDS in 2013 I moved there from a startup. The next 4 years did feel a bit like a tour of duty with DWP, and I know many others who felt like this. I wholeheartedly agree that government needs to find ways to more easily recruit and retain digital talent and bring in new perspectives.
Most of all, I like the intent expressed here. That, importantly, this is a senior government official saying broadly the right things (as Tom Loosemore said earlier).
The “how do we make this service better by next Friday” is a great provocation. Government can do this.
A useful update to add to these thoughts: Nick Kimber has shared a post with more details about how test and learn teams will be set up, including some reassurance about the involvement of local teams and communities: “The Fund will help us model new ways of working between central government and place, show how we might better integrate operational voice and design-methods into policy, and harness the experimental capacity of local government. We will act locally but the learning will be national.”
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